The present invention relates to an attachment for powered vehicles, such as a forklift and, more particularly, to an attachment adapted for lifting, carrying and dumping individual containers.
The use of attachments on powered vehicles for emptying containers by dumping their contents is known. Hydraulic and power take-off driven dumping attachments are available for emptying open-topped containers. Other types of attachments for dumping containers are also known that do not require the hydraulic or power take-off drive. Some of these known attachments include a container that is not independent of the attachment but, is an integral part thereof. Other attachments provide an apparatus for lifting and carrying, as well as emptying containers that are structurally independent of the attachment.
In certain applications, such as fruit and produce harvesting, it is advantageous to empty large open-topped containers that are independent of the attachment by tipping the container over so the contents will fall out. While this is an effective means of emptying the containers, conventional forklift attachments suffer from the drawback that operator error or nonuniform size containers can result in the container being less than securely carried on the attachment, particularly when the container is tipped for emptying. Obviously, when the container resides less than securely on the attachment, the operators in close proximity to the forklift are endangered due to the possibility of the container falling off of the attachment. Of less concern, but equally possible, is the potential for damage to surrounding equipment and the contents of the container if the container falls off of the attachment.
Conventional forklift dumping attachments do not provide a means for safely tipping and emptying independent, individual containers. Therefore, with the increasing concern for employee safety, it is imperative that employers do everything within their means to prevent employees from being exposed to unnecessary risks. Thus, there is a continuing interest in providing a safe and effective attachment for powered vehicles to lift, carry and empty large containers.